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Shaun Thomas (Underdog), OSC
to remember
Deuter, Richard Carl, LT.
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Commander L. W. Richards and then-Lieutenant (junior grade) Richard Deuter were flying as lead in a section of two A-6A INTRUDERS, operating under FAC control against a target near Tavouc in southern Laos. Richards, flying A-6A BuNo 155613, rolled in on the target and released his weapons, but as he pulled out of the dive-bombing delivery the wing structure failed and the aircraft disintegrated in flight. Richards was able to escape and was picked up about 30 minutes later, but Richard Deuter apparently went in with the aircraft.
In a separate incident, LCdr Richard F. Collins and LT Michael E. Quinn, flying A-6A BuNo 155607, were conducting a night armed reconnaissance mission along the Ho Chi Minh Trail further to the north. A second A-6 was operating at some distance in trail. The crew of the second aircraft sighted a large fireball estimated to be in the vicinity of Ban Tampanko, Laos. There was no radio contact with either crewman and SAR efforts failed to locate either crew or aircraft.
As of 07 Dec 2002 the remains of the three men have not been repatriated.
The loss mentioned by Mike Munson above was F-4J BuNo 155889 from VF-143, crewed by LTJG Herbert C. Wheeler and LTJG Henry J. Bedinger, who went down while conducting a bombing strike near Ban Nampakhon, Laos. Low clouds required that Wheeler conduct a relatively flat dive delivery, rolling in from less than 8,000 feet. When he attempted to level his wings for the drop, the aircraft refused to follow the control inputs and continued in a left roll and an increasingly steep dive toward the ground. As the aircraft passed through the minimum possible recovery altitude, the crew ejected. LTJG Wheeler was picked up by a USAF "JOLLY GREEN" HH-53A helo, but Bedinger was surrounded by enemy troops and captured. Bedinger eventually was moved to a prison within North Vietnam and was repatriated on 28 March 1973 - one of the few aviators who survived capture in Laos.
Description This Campaign period was from 9 June to 31 October 1969. In the Mekong Delta proper, Swift boat, PBR, riverine assault craft, SEAL, and Vietnamese ground units struck at the Viet Cong in their former strongholds, which included the Ca Mau Peninsula, the U Minh Forest, and the islands of the broad Mekong River system.
After raiding and harassing operations like Silver Mace II, the combined navies often deployed forces to secure a more permanent Vietnamese government presence in vital areas. In June 1969, for example, the U.S. Navy anchored a mobile pontoon base in the middle of the Ca Mau region's Cua Lon River. This operation, labelled Sea Float, was made difficult by heavy Viet Cong opposition, strong river currents, and the distance to logistic support facilities. Still, Sea Float denied the enemy a safe haven even in this isolated corner of the delta. The allies further threatened the Communist "rear" area in September when they set up patrols on the Ong Doc, a river bordering the dense and isolated U Minh area. Staging from an advance tactical support base at the river's mouth, U.S. and Vietnamese PBRs of Operation Breezy Cove repeatedly intercepted and destroyed enemy supply parties crossing the waterway.
By October 1969, one year after the start of the SEALORDS campaign, Communist military forces in the Mekong Delta were under heavy pressure. The successive border interdiction barriers delayed and disrupted the enemy's resupply and troop replacement from Cambodia. The raiding operations hit vulnerable base areas and the Sea Float deployment put allied forces deep into what had been a Viet Cong sanctuary. In addition, American and Vietnamese forces captured or destroyed over 500 tons of enemy weapons, ammunition, food, medicines, and other supplies. Furthermore, 3,000 Communist soldiers were killed and 300 were captured at a cost of 186 allied men killed and 1,451 wounded.
My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year
June / 1969
To Month/Year
October / 1969
Last Updated: Mar 16, 2020
Personal Memories
Memories After 5 months of intensive operations, Ranger called at Hong Kong 5 May 1968 and then steamed for home. There followed a shipyard availability at Puget Sound that ended with Ranger's departure 29 July for San Francisco. Three months of leave, upkeep and training culminated in another WestPac deployment 26 October 1968 through 17 May 1969. [edit] 1970s She departed Alameda on yet another WestPac deployment in October 1969 and remained so employed until 18 May 1970 at which time she returned to Alameda, arriving 1 June